I Became The Pope, Now What?
chapter-323-30041322

The head of the beautiful Baroness now rested on the dirt beside Sylvester's feet as it rolled towards him. The eyes were still open, and the blood was still oozing, but the face showed the last expression of the woman—confusion.

'If only you were a viable pawn, I'd have done everything in my power to save you.' Sylvester sighed at the sight of the severed head.

"You mad fuck!" Sir Anthony tried to attack Sylvester and swung his sword as firmly as possible.

Clank!

But Sylvester easily avoided it by putting his shoulder in the way, which was clad in armour.

However, he didn't stop there as he caught the blade with his hand and stood solid. "It was you in the first place who caused this. You killed her, Sir Anthony! If you had not so foolishly tried to kill that child, that creature wouldn't have come out."

"Shut up!"

Clank!

Sir Anthony went into a wild rage and started barraging attack after attack. No other soldier had the audacity to do the same, so they watched in silence. As for the invisible attackers, Sylvester believed he had temporarily stopped them with the explosive crystals. As for the creature—he could only hope that the death of the Baroness satisfied it.

"Your jealousy brought your doom—your mind, you let the lust consume it. I hate heathens and sinners. But I hate even more the incompetent men like you who put others in danger with their false sense of justice and power!" Sylvester overpowered the Knight easily and tried to take the sword away.

Sir Anthony gritted his teeth and cursed aloud. "Ten years! I worked for her for ten fucking years!"

Bam!

Sylvester punched him in the face and took the sword. After that, he turned its direction and thrust the blade into Sir Anthony's chest like a hot knife on butter. "And I don't care, Sir Anthony. The moment your blade touched my skin, your life was over."

"Argh!…"

Sylvester let the body of Sir Anthony slide back down with ease. The man's heart was punctured, and he died a slow death while twitching violently. In an instant, Sylvester had ended the entire leadership of the Barony of Rosewood.

So, he turned around and faced the creature. "Whatever you are, please leave now! The vow that was broken has been avenged now."

"Wraaaaa!"

But, the creature only roared towards the sky and started to grow bigger. All the dead bodies of the soldiers around it got dragged and assimilated into the giant blob of vines, leaves and tree trunks that formed the creature's body.

"Mother Mirnor! Please calm down!" The man Sylvester had talked to in the tribal village appeared and tried to calm the creature down. "The price has been paid in blood!"

"Wraaaa! Blood!"

Boom!

But, the creature only turned more violent and started to kill all the remaining men of the Baroness' army. Heck, even the Baroness' body got destroyed in the process.

It was all madness as people exploded and left behind showers of blood. There was nowhere to escape either, as the vines covered everything. And it all happened too fast. Within ten minutes, every man left from the Baroness' army was gone with the wind as droplets of blood.

"Blood!"

But the creature kept screaming and raging around while growing bigger. It was clear that it had gone completely berserk.

"BLOOOOOD!"

Boom!

It started to slam its huge branches all around randomly. Sadly, in the crossfire, the people from the tribe were caught as well.

Bam!

One thick tree trunk fell on a man and a little child, and they instantly died with their bodies crushed. Then a thick, thorny branch fell on a woman, beheading her immediately.

"Fools! Run away!" Sylvester bellowed when he noticed the people from the tribe started to pray instead of running away. "Your god won't hear you today! All of you will be killed, even the kids!"

Sylvester reached the people, a group of a few hundred. "Please leave as fast as possible. I will remain here and fight it!"

The man Sylvester knew rejected his plea. "Why would our goddess go berserk? She's all-knowing and all-powerful."

Sylvester had to come up with something, so he gave a hypothesis. "It's not the goddess that's the problem. It's the boy who she possesses. The boy is a small child with an underdeveloped brain. He can not comprehend nor aid the goddess' powers fully. Hence, because of the child, anger and rage have taken over. She can't differentiate between an ally and you now."

The man looked at the creature and eventually nodded. "You are likely correct, priest of Solis. I have never seen her this angry before in my life. But… If we run away, how can we trust that you won't harm her? You are the famed bard, after all."

Sylvester went closer to the man and whispered something for a while. Then, slowly, the man's face changed from fright to delight, and in the end, he nodded fervently. "U-Understood, Sire… I will take the people!"

Everyone was confused about what was happening, but as the man ordered his people, they started to leave. In no time, all that was left was a lot of blood, the creature, Sylvester and his friends.

"Alright, now let's deal with you… Spirit of the Forest." Sylvester vocally called it something other than 'creature' this time.

Thud!

He let go of his spear and made it fall with a loud sound. Then, he walked closer to the creature he had just called spirit. At the same time, he kept one palm facing the spirit and the other touching his chest.

He didn't sing but sent a normal beam of light magic at it. "Calm down… I now understand who you are. I thought you were a myth, but it turns out you're real. There can only be a few things as threatening as a Supreme Wizard, and I know you are that—Spirit of the Forest!"

"Wraaa!"

The spirit still roared and threw its tentacles at Sylvester. They were full of thorns, so they easily ripped apart his armour and tunic, leaving behind some wounds on his bare chest.

Yet Sylvester continued to walk forward and speak. "A Spirit of Forest that has lived on these lands for thousands of years and saw humans encroach. But, one tribe learnt to live with nature. You adopted it. Am I right?

"Spirit Mirnor! Please stop, for we both are servants of the same light—The lord that shines so bright!" Sylvester's last words were loud and clear. They echoed far and wide throughout the forest.

"Lord Bard! Stop! Don't go closer!" Sir Dolorem shouted for him in worry.

But, to Sylvester, nothing was audible or visible except the spirit that had gone berserk. He wasn't sure previously, but now he was certain this was a spirit. "You are no god, but just an elevated consciousness of nature, am I correct?"

Five metres.

Two metres.

Sylvester walked as close as a metre since the spirit had started to calm down, albeit with occasional roars and grunts.

Thud!

Sylvester fell to his knees and finally started singing a hymn with his eyes closed. With that, the beam of light from his palm turned purer, and the halo behind his head increased the majesty of the bard.

♫O' pure nature's spirit of the wild.

To the same father, we're a child.

Memories of centuries you have compiled.

Bows this bard, as against you, I'm so mild.♫

♫O' nature's delight, we feed on the same food.

By his grace, light and Solarium it includes.

Sides of the same coin we are, it concludes.

For the same belief, sweet prayers we exude.♫

♫I hope it's not too hard to determine.

I serve the lord by singing his sermon.

So please, end this mindless bloodshed.

With me, sing the name of the lord instead.♫

Sylvester stopped singing and clapped his hands together before opening his eyes. However, before the visuals, a sweet, kind, and motherly voice entered his ears.

"May the Holy Light enlighten us—Blessed Bard."

Sylvester's heart skipped a beat, for he felt a warm connection with that voice. It was akin to being held by Xavia herself.

So he looked and saw the child's body also kneeling towards him with hands clapped together. The boy was not himself, that was for sure, as his eyes shone in bright green, and vines still covered his green body.

"You speak the truth, blessed bard. The bringer of light is the real lord. They call me goddess, but I'm anything but that. I am a mere spirit, the mother of this forest that once used to span the entire Gracia. Now, I live in this confident space with my children—The tribe that I cared for over ten thousand years." A feminine, motherly voice came out of the boy.

Sylvester bowed his head with respect. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited or overwhelmed. His heart was racing at the moment, and he knew why.

'Who would have thought Spirits of nature were real? One this strong out of all. She can easily crush a Grand Wizard if she ever wishes to.'

"Forgive me, respected spirit. Humans have forgotten their roots. That it's nature that was our first mother. So I have stopped the Rosewood family, and I will ensure that no attempt to tarnish this forest takes place again," he assured her.

Woosh!

The child's body raised its right hand, and a small vine came out of it with its tip mimicking the shape of a tiny hand. It travelled towards Sylvester's face and caressed his cheek.

"Forgive me, Blessed Bard. I spilt your blood needlessly. The bloodlust had taken over me, a side effect that occurs to all Spirits if we try to take over a human body beyond a certain point. This body, too, is now dead."

Sylvester was slightly taken aback. "This young boy is no more?"

"The human body can't withstand the amount of mutation I inflicted, blessed bard. I weep for centuries for each life of my children I take. I will weep for hundreds more now."

Sylvester, this time, gathered some courage and caressed the head of the kid. "This is the life we lead, respected Mirnor. Sometimes we must make decisions that our hearts don't like but stand logically sound. Of course, after that, regret is always found."

"Wise! As expected from the child of Solis." She praised, spreading much pride in Sylvester's heart.

Shh…!

"Sylvester!" Augustus roared all of a sudden and shielded Sylvester's back. "I got you!"

Augustus easily parried an incoming arrow from nowhere, but the next one plunged into his shoulder. However, he didn't appear fazed and prepared to defend Sylvester.

Clank!

All of a sudden, dozens of more arrows appeared out of nowhere. Augustus calmly swung his sword and blocked them.

Eventually, Sylvester grunted and stood up. "Show yourself! Why attack me like a coward!"

"As you wish." An unrecognisable male voice resonated with the wind, and a cloaked man appeared ten metres from Sylvester. "As the rumours said, you are more marvellous than my wildest dream."

"Stand back!" Sir Dolorem stood alongside Augustus to protect Sylvester. "State your name!"

The eyes of the cloaked man narrowed as if disgusted. "Ugh… Filthy creatures should not speak when beings of higher nobility exchange words."

Sylvester reiterated. "Show your face, speak your name and reason. Or take the wrath of my spear."

The man immediately removed the veil from his head, revealing his pale white face, bright blue eyes, and particularly interesting ears. "Of course, your royal highness! I have come to bring you back to your father—His royal highness, Rathagun Xeek Eldaron—The Supreme King of Elves!"

[A/N: Some Fan Service]

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